Syracuse Basketball: Dissecting SU’s good, bad team numbers in 2021-22

Unless Syracuse basketball ends up playing in a post-season tournament, and I guess that remains to be seen, the Orange potentially played its last game of the 2021-22 term when it fell to Duke by nine points on Thursday afternoon in a 2022 ACC Tournament quarterfinal encounter at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

If, indeed, the ‘Cuse is done in 2021-22, we’re taking a look in this article at various collective marks produced by the Orange in what has proven a frustrating season for sure.

That being said, as I opined in another recent column, it was also delightful to watch brothers Buddy Boeheim and Jimmy Boeheim, a senior shooting guard and a graduate student forward, respectfully, play alongside one another, and for their dad.

As a unit, Syracuse basketball has a 16-17 overall record, which if it holds would be the first losing season for head coach Jim Boeheim in his 46 years at the helm on the Hill.

Let’s further break down the 2021-22 campaign for Syracuse basketball.

The Orange was 6-5 in the non-conference slate, went 9-11 in Atlantic Coast Conference competition, where it finished in ninth place in the regular season, and then the ‘Cuse split a pair of games in the ACC Tournament.

In the Carrier Dome, the Orange was 11-5. The squad was 3-8 on the road and 2-4 at neutral sites. The team finished 0-10 in quadrant-one affairs, 4-2 in quadrant two, a sub-par 7-5 in quadrant three, and a perfect 5-0 in quadrant four.

At the time of this writing, the ‘Cuse checked in at No. 84 in the NET rankings and No. 76 overall via KenPom.

As a group, Syracuse basketball averaged 77.4 points per contest and allowed an awful 75.1 points on defense. Collectively, the Orange connected on 45.1 percent from the field, 37.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.7 percent from the charity stripe, according to ESPN data.

Without question, the ‘Cuse shined on offense for much of 2021-22. As far as I can tell, the Orange found itself inside the top-20 nationally for a large portion of this season as it pertains to adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.

Other per-game averages include 36.3 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 7.0 steals, 3.8 blocks and 10.7 turnovers committed.

So what does all of this mean? Well, Syracuse basketball was really good on offense. By and large, the team struggled in its zone. The ‘Cuse was inconsistent on the glass, sometimes holding its own while on other occasions getting smoked on the boards.

Its team-wide shooting percentages, from my perspective, are strong. The biggest struggle for Syracuse basketball seemed to be that this squad simply couldn’t close out tight games on a consistent basis, and the Orange’s most recent loss to the Blue Devils was a perfect example.